April 27, 2019
First off, I just want to reiterate how happy I am that the folks who leave reviews are enjoying this. I love writing and haven't written anything just for fun in so long, so I'm enjoying figuring this out, too. Very fun to have people along for the ride with me! And people have been re-reading it, apparently, which is super shocking and so exciting to hear.
Second: No spoilers, I promise. But OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS. LAST NIGHT'S EPISODE. EVERYTHING IS SO MESSY AND I LOVE IT. What an incredible thing the writers did with the metaphor of Sam's party. Just as obsessed as ever, and still wishing I could write something that perfect. Haha. And yet I shall continue with my little story, here, and hope that you all enjoy it!
When Culhane answered the door, he could instantly sense the tension between Liam and Fallon. Rather than stick his nose into that mess, he stepped back and let them in. Fallon walked in first without hesitation, going to look for Monica to explain the whole Instagram debacle from earlier.
That left Liam to awkwardly step past Michael and look around at the Colbys' place. It was impressive, as Liam had expected, and for a moment it made him wonder whether places like this made Culhane feel uncomfortable. Surely Michael made excellent money working for a family like the Carringtons, but even Liam didn't bother spending much of the money he clearly had on buying fancy houses in however many cities. He'd gotten his trust after going completely broke while backpacking, like he'd told Sam, and since then had been more careful with what he had to his name.
The foyer led to an open floor-plan living room, and from there Liam could see where the others were. Jeff was reading in a chair off to the side, and Fallon was just closing the back door behind her to join Monica and Kirby on the back porch. Liam assumed that she would've left the door open if she'd wanted him to join her, so he took it as a hint that she needed time with her friends and tried not to think much of it.
"So... What's the dinner plan?" Liam asked, trying to skip over the awkward silence.
"Not sure," Culhane shrugged. "Jeff?"
Jeff looked up, prepared to answer, but Liam cut in anyway. "I don't mind cooking if nobody else wants to. Since it's your place and I'm just, y'know, a guest and all." He held his hands up in a gesture that suggested he wouldn't be bothered either way.
"Uh," Jeff closed the book around his thumb to hold the page he was on. "I mean, whatever works. I'll show you where everything is, then?"
They made their way into the kitchen, and Michael followed for lack of something else to do – and also in an attempt to suggest that he wasn't going to make things more awkward than they already were. Jeff shot a cautious look at Culhane before he turned to Liam, openly curious.
"So Monica said you might be in trouble," he said, even as he started opening cabinets to gesture to things Liam might need.
Cracking an awkward smile, Liam rubbed at the back of his neck. "Uh, not exactly. Adam tried to mess with Fallon. Went through Steven and my ex to do it. And, apparently, through Kirby. Not that she probably knew until Fallon went out there."
They all glanced towards the back porch, where Fallon had poured herself a glass of iced tea from Monica and Kirby's pitcher. From the expressions on the girls' faces, it was clear that she was filling them in, too.
"Someone needs to walk me through this plan," he continued, getting back to business and looking through the pantry for ideas. "I told Fallon she shouldn't put herself in danger and she got pretty defensive, so whatever's been thought out so far, it doesn't sound ideal."
Michael rolled his eyes behind Liam's back. "If you think Fallon's easily swayed against her own ideas, you don't know her very well."
His jaw clenched slightly, but Liam turned around with a container of bread crumbs in hand. "Actually, she listens to reason as far I can see. But in my experience, she doesn't enjoy men taking control merely for the fact that we're men. She doesn't need protection, and that's not what I'm saying. But if there's a way to ensure that everyone is safe, that's a different matter entirely."
The back door closed suddenly, and all three men turned to see a bemused, if slightly irked, Fallon standing in the door with her arms crossed and head tilted to the side. "Really?" She asked sharply, her gaze flicking between Michael and Liam. "Is it going to be like this all night?"
"Fal..." Liam shook his head apologetically.
She rolled her eyes, stepping forward to sit herself on on the kitchen's island stool. "It better not be," she warned seriously. "If you two are going to have a territorial contest or something, just know that it doesn't matter to me either way what you two try. It's not going to affect the choices I make. And just so you know, I thought more highly of both of you before I heard that."
"It's not a contest," Michael argued, only to be interrupted by Liam.
"Fallon, honestly. You know that's not what we were talking about."
She lifted an eyebrow, guilting him into turning away to resume his meal prep. "Make whatever claims you want, but know that absolutely nobody will decide what I do besides me."
"We know that, Carrington," Jeff snapped finally, ready to be past any talk of Fallon's disastrously complicated love life. "Just leave it."
Fallon lifted her chin rather imperiously, but to show that she was past being petty, she walked over to the other side of the counter, peering over Liam's shoulder at what he was making. He turned slightly to give her a better view, and to face her somewhat when he spoke up again.
"You have to know that's not how I meant it," he murmured, grateful for the entrance of Monica and Kirby, which overwhelmed the rest of the kitchen with noise. "I don't agree with what I think you've got planned, but it's like I said. You don't have to do whatever you're planning on your own."
"... I know," she agreed after a moment, her posture relaxing. "But if you'd waited for me to explain, rather than assuming, you'd know that I had always planned to keep all of us safe. Including me." Fallon reached up to his back, gently scratching in circles that she thought would be calming. "What're you making?" She added, hoping to change the topic for the time being.
Liam cracked a small smile at that, taking her intention and running with it. So he gestured to the various supplies he had spread in front of him. "I was thinking a chicken parmesan, if people like that." He heard Fallon hum at the thought as she nodded, and an idea occurred to him. "If you want to avoid talking about things with them, you could always help me, Fal."
She laughed at his tone as much as she did at the suggestion. "If you think I know how to do any of this-"
"I'm more than happy to teach you."
Fallon just scratched at his back again, murmuring a quiet, "I know. Thank you." She leaned forward a little, looking at everything in front of him, before glancing towards the rest of their dinner party.
"It doesn't matter what they think," he told her without looking up to actually see what she was doing. "But it's fine if you'd rather not."
She huffed, shaking her hair out of her face as if he'd just challenged her. "Fine, I'll help."
Liam looked over at her in both shock and the joy of having talked her into it. "You'll be a chef yet," he assured her, stepping around to trade places with her so she was the one standing in front of the pot he'd set atop the stove.
His hand came up to rest at the small of her back, assuming the process would actually stress her out. But he kept his own tone completely calm, if not simply happy to be able to teach her something he loved to do. It wasn't until she completely ignored his instruction to cut up the garlic he'd already crushed that he realized she wasn't actually listening. She looked like she was trying to, but he also noticed everybody else staring at them in shock.
Liam shot them a disapproving look that evidently was stern enough to make them look away and wander towards the living room to put on a show that Kirby recommended. As soon as they were gone, Fallon seemed to snap back into gear, doing exactly as he'd instructed her to.
"How about this?" Liam started, refusing to let her pull back from him after everything. "I'll help you with this, and you tell me the plan at the same time," he suggested, thinking it would keep her mind busy so she wouldn't think about what everyone else was thinking, or about what she assumed about his and Michael's conversation.
Fallon nodded, liking that plan. "Okay, well then... First of all, we realized that the only way to convince Blake of anything is to make him think that Adam is after him, not anybody else."
"That makes sense," he agreed, pointing towards the jar of diced tomatoes. "Here," he handed her the can opener, situating her hands and covering them with his own to guide her. "Once this is open, put this in the pot with the garlic. Then you'll actually be touching the chicken, so we'll go ahead and wash hands real quick."
"Okay." She furrowed her brow slightly, letting him lead. "So we were thinking, Adam's always one step ahead of us and we never know how. So maybe, rather than catching him, we need to play his game, too."
"How?"
Fallon turned after pouring the tomatoes as he'd asked, moving over to the sink behind them. "Jeff, and Michael's sister, are both really good at things like hacking and coding. So if they can put together a trail of files that we can hide somewhere deep in a folder on Adam's computer, he might not even know they're there. And then we can send an email to someone at Atlantix making some bid to get rid of Blake, linking those files so it looks like he put them together himself."
She turned off the faucet and picked up a towel, drying her hands.
Liam knew that her plan was a good one, but there was one key detail that he was sure she hadn't provided yet. "How do we get those things on his computer, or that email sent? Surely he'd protect the computer or at least keep it near him."
Fallon pressed her lips together, looking away. He immediately knew that this was the part he wasn't going to like. Liam's face must've made that clear, because Fallon quickly stepped forward, her hands sliding down his forearms to link their fingers together. "I was going to go in and do it myself," she told him.
"So I was right."
"Not exactly. See, I need someone to come with me to distract him. That way, whoever was supposed to do that... they'd know if Adam was coming my way. If I needed help. And I was thinking we could ask Anders. If he knows what's happening, he'll definitely-"
"No way," Liam cut in, shaking his head firmly. "Anders might help, too, but I'm going with you. I'll distract him."
She looked conflicted, clearly not wanting to upset him but not agreeing fully with his idea. "You don't know him, Liam. And that means he knows more about you than you could ever learn about him before we get back home. If he reads you well enough, he'll know instantly what's happening."
Liam started pulling away, wanting space to think, but she held on tighter. "... I've nearly lost you before, Fallon. Not permanently, in the sense that Adam seems to intend. But I do have some experience there, and maybe... I can make it seem like you've gone missing. Convince him that nobody knows where you are, and tell the others to play along. We're at least halfway-decent actors, and if I got in that room with him, I know I could seem desperate. We already are, anyway."
"You do that," she mused slowly, understanding, "while I sneak upstairs."
"So we get the house - even Blake - focused on finding you, when really you're under their noses the entire time. And if Adam doesn't buy it, we'll have Anders or Sam or somebody be there, too, to let you know in time for you to sneak out of his room and into yours. If nothing else, I'll be right behind him. I promise."
"Liam, if he hurts you-"
He shushed her, pulling one hand away so he could cradle her cheek. "It'll be fine, sweetheart. It's you we're all worried about. And once Blake turns his back on Adam, we'll have a real chance of being free. You and your friends – the plan you made... it'll work. I believe that. I have to."
She sighed heavily, leaning into his palm. "Yeah..." Her gaze drifted to the package of chicken he'd taken out for their meal. "I don't want to think about it right now," she requested, pointing at the stove.
He kissed her cheek briefly before walking her through the rest of the meal, letting her do most of the work unless she started to panic – like when she became convinced that she'd burned the chicken and he had to hide his laughter while helping her turn it over before she really did burn it. She seemed to appreciate the spaghetti part the most, as it took the least amount of work and attention, which didn't really surprise him. But she was thoroughly charming throughout, and he got the feeling that he'd try and turn this into a regular thing.
That is, if they had the chance to just spend a night doing nothing but spending time together. It was hard to imagine a casual date, but he really hoped that they would get a chance without it ending up totally spoiled.
Liam let Fallon call the others to dinner, biting back his smile at how utterly proud she looked when their eyebrows lifted as they registered how impressive it was for her first ever full dinner, technically made just by Fallon herself. He wasn't about to take that credit from her. And, somehow, for a little while, they just enjoyed a dinner that didn't involve arguing or plotting or even fretting, really. Liam found himself smiling, despite Adam and Michael and Ada, and everything else that had and currently was standing in his and Fallon's way.